NUI Galway is delighted to announce a new bursary which will be awarded to the Best Overall Student in Master of Science in Health Economics. The bursary is sponsored by Janssen Sciences Ireland. NUI Galway has a close working relationship with Janssen Sciences Ireland with the company offering placements to many NUI Galway students and a number of these placements have evolved into full-time positions in market access and health economics. Also, approximately 50% of the Market Access team in Janssen Sciences Ireland are graduates from the programme. In addition, representatives from Janssen, including their CEO in Ireland, Dr Leisha Daly, have featured in the MSc in Health Economics guest lecturer programme. The bursary, a fund of €2,500, will be awarded at the end of this coming academic year and will cover the cost of the recipient attending the European International Society for Pharmaeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) conference which will be held in Barcelona in November. Brendan Kennelly, Lecturer in Economics at NUI Galway, said: “We are delighted to partner with Janssen Science Ireland in this new student bursary. The annual ISPOR conference consists of a very exciting mix of academics and professional presentations and courses. Attending the conference will be a fantastic educational and professional opportunity for the awardee and represents an appropriate way of acknowledging the achievement of the successful student.” The MSc in Health Economics introduces students to the principles underlying the economic analysis of health care decision-making within an evolving context of technological development, population ageing and changing patient expectations. The programme is designed for people interested in pursuing a career in the government, the health service, the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, or in research and consultancy agencies. The programme examines the challenges of scarcity for health care provision, analyses alternative systems of finance and delivery and provides an introduction to the techniques of evaluation used in health care. -Ends-

Five students from the MSc in Information Systems Management course at NUI Galway have developed and launched the website ‘PrimaryFit’ under the guidance of their lecturer, Dr Trevor Clohessy. The website was created as a solution to help communities tackle child obesity in Ireland. The students developed an operation transformation type platform for primary school students as part of a project within their course module. They engaged with the local community to gather information which provided them with specific requirements on how the website should look and feel. ‘PrimaryFit’ consists of easy to access meal and exercise plans with a designated discussion forum for teachers and parents and for community engagement. The website also offers features such as Exercise Plans, Time Based Workouts, Healthy School Meals, a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator, Weight Tracker and a Calorie Counter. There is also a section where people can connect with local nutrition and physical exercise experts to get their opinions on relevant issues. Dr Trevor Clohessy from the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway, said: “We are very proud of the students’ efforts to create such a wonderful platform. This website is one of the first to tackle the growing issue of childhood obesity. Latest statistics compiled by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and reported in The Lancet medical journal, outlined how almost a third of Irish children are now overweight. Motivated by the national success of the operation transformation initiatives, I tasked the students to create a platform which would be community led. “This platform will allow primary school teachers to not only access a variety of information resources with regards to fun exercise programmes, meals and nutritional advice which are suitable for specific age groups but also enable them to report how effective they were and also contribute to the platform. The primary aim of this website will be to harness the wisdom of the community in order to promote an environment which encourages healthy physical activity and eating habits.” Speaking about the project, the NUI Galway students, said: “The fact that this project consisted of us tackling a real-life problem brought some passion and inspiration to the table as we all wanted to try and make a difference to the local community. Child obesity is an issue which is spiralling out of control in Ireland, everyone on the team knows at least one child who is affected by child obesity and as a result their future is negatively impacted, which is concerning when it can be easily avoided with correct practices in place. “We would like this platform to be a community driven initiative and we have provided an option to submit ideas for children’s exercise or nutrition plans with a mechanism to moderate the submitted content. We believe that we have designed a platform which will brighten the future of many young people suffering from the negative aspects of child obesity in Ireland, through community collaboration and participation.” The students developed the platform and hosted it on the internet by using technologies and techniques they learnt through a wide range of modules from the MSc in Information Systems Management course at NUI Galway. They setup user management and moderation facilities to combat the negative aspects of discussion forums, gathered extensive feedback during the design phase of the website and used design techniques such as card sorting, prototyping and design thinking. Akshay Oswal, Louis Queally, Paul O'Leary, Rajit Patel and Yash Paithankar are the five NUI Galway students who created the ‘PrimaryFit’ website. To view the website, visit: http://www.primaryfit.ie/ -Ends-

A New Wave of MedTech companies to be supported by NUI Galway’s BioExel programme, Ireland’s first accelerator programme, following the success of initial cohorts Tuesday, 17 July, 2018: Following on from the success of the initial round of BioExel programme applicants at NUI Galway in 2017-2108, the MedTech Accelerator programme is now accepting applications for the second cohort 2018-2019, with recruitment starting from 20 July to 1 September 2018. Based at NUI Galway, BioExel offers €95,000 in seed funding to successful applicants along with six-months of intensive training, mentoring, lab space and supported interactions with potential investors. The programme allows participants to build and commercially validate their technologies by working with existing entrepreneurial networks, mentors and management team. BioExel is managed by MedTech Director, Dr Sandra Ganly, also a co-founder of BioInnovate Ireland and Senior Research Fellow in NUI Galway, and Fiona Neary, Commercial Director and co-founder of BioExel, and Manager of the Business Innovation Centre at NUI Galway. Fiona Neary at NUI Galway, said: “This first cohort of BioExel candidates have an array of innovations that have grown over the months at a rapid pace, de-risking their technologies and advancing in critical areas of MedTech challenges. BioExel is key to transforming these opportunities as we deliver the next generation of investor ready, first class medical technologies to the marketplace.” The first cohort of companies to complete the 2017-2018 BioExel programme joined a showcase and celebration of Ireland’s MedTech ecosystem in Galway recently, attended by Minister for State Seán Kyne.     The six cohort of companies who have completed the BioExel programme 2017-2018: Bioprobe Diagnostics Ltd. Developing diagnostic products in a new regulated generation of water quality testing. Having spun out of NUI Galway in 2017, Bioprobe Diagnostics has developed a ground-breaking technology to quickly detect Legionella bacteria in water. The water-borne bacteria can lead to the life threatening form of pneumonia known as Legionnaires Disease. Bioprobe Diagnostics’ one-step test is five times faster and 30% cheaper in direct costs than what is currently on the market. The company is currently raising funds and getting ready to launch their product in 2019. Bluedrop Medical Ltd. Predicting and preventing diabetic foot ulcers using computer vision, mapping associated complications and costs. Bluedrop Medical has developed a system for early Diabetic Foot Ulcers detection and patient compliance for health care systems. Daily temperature monitoring has been shown to prevent 70% of ulcers in three randomised controlled trials. Bluedrop Medical has incorporated this technology into a novel home based device, and linked it up with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) remote monitoring system to provide actionable alerts to clinicians, enabling early intervention to prevent diabetic foot ulcers. Diabetic foot ulcers result in over 150,000 amputations per year in Europe. Bluedrop Medical has developed a system that can prevent 70% of them. Giant Leap Biotechnology Ltd. Designing a neuro regenerative product using cellular therapies and biomaterials delivery for spinal cord injury. GiantLeap Biotechnology is an Irish company focused on developing a veterinary therapy for spinal cord injury in canines which is estimated to be a $225 million annual market in the US. The technology has been created over a seven year research period by the founder Martin Codyre. GiantLeap Biotechnology is developing a biomaterial implant that will have protected intellectual property that combines with cells taken from the animal and implanted into the injured spinal cord. Hidramed Solutions Ltd. A wound care kit for effective management of chronic wounds, addressing patients’ unmet needs, providing comfort and adhesive free, secure dressing retention. Hidramed Solutions has developed a patentable two-part wound care kit that dramatically improves the wound care routine for patients. Of specific focus are individuals with Hidradenitis Suppurativa, (HS), a chronic debilitating skin disease. The condition is thought to be underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed, with a prevalence rate of 1-4% of the general population. The locations of the lesions makes it difficult for standard dressings to be worn comfortably and the options available are currently ineffective. Hidramed Solutions aim to transform the day-to-day comfort and quality of lives of suffers of Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Immunogrow Ltd. ImmunoGrow’s New Personalised Cancer Therapy aims to simplify production, thereby reducing costs and enhancing patient safety. Adoptive cell transfer is an anti-cancer approach that enhances the natural cancer-fighting ability of the body’s cells by removing immune system cells, growing and/or making changes to them outside of the body, and then re-infusing them back into the patient. ImmunoGrow aim to simplify production, reduce costs and enhance patient safety. Today, complex manufacturing processes limit the potential of cell-based cancer immunotherapies from the bespoke, operator intensive setting of the academic research lab to a commercially viable, good manufacturing practice-compliant environment. Innunogrow has mimicked in vivo (in the body of a living organism) growth conditions for T Cells (a subtype for white blood cells) by replicating the body’s natural growth conditions. This process improves output, reduces significant risk of invalid cell product, simplifies manufacturing requirement for skilled operator input and is easily integrated into automatic cell processing platforms. CompanionQMS Ltd. CompanionQMS is a cloud-enabled, secure, and scalable solution, delivering superior document management, intelligent workflows and reporting tools in one single interface. Developing QMS bespoke quality management software exclusively for medical device companies. Research has proven the need for an easy to implement and use, competitively priced QMS software. CompanionQMS is quality management software designed for medical device companies that provides a solution to this problem. CompanionQMS will enable companies to streamline product development and compliance while setting new standards for ease of use and flexibility of design. The Western region already has a strong MedTech ecosystem and this is actively supported by the expertise and infrastructure at NUI Galway. The University is home to Ireland’s only centre for stem cell manufacturing, extensive translational and clinical facilities, biomedical sciences research laboratories, and the CÚRAM Centre for Research in Medical Devices. This is further strengthened by NUI Galway’s expertise in funding grants, knowledge transfer, and programmes such as BioInnovate and BioExel. BioExel is a partnership programme funded by Enterprise Ireland, Western Development Commission, Galway University Foundation, Bank of Ireland seed and early stage equity fund, and hosted by NUI Galway. To apply please contact the BioExel team for an application form at bioexelinfo@nuigalway.ie or phone 091 493150. For more information, visit: www.bioexel.ie -Ends-